Recessed hinges for articles of furniture

ABSTRACT

A recessed hinge system for articles of furniture having a pair of substantially cylindrical elongated shafts each inserted into holes drilled in adjacent furniture panels; the insertion holes are drilled diagonally into the panels relative to the plane of the major face thereof. The shafts are held in place by means of transverse set screws in the corresponding panels and the shafts are coupled together about a pivot axis.

United States Patent Fantoni June 24, 1975 RECESSED HINGES FOR ARTICLES OF [56] References Cited FURNITURE UNITED STATES PATENTS [75] Inventor: Marco Fantoni, Udine, Italy 3,172,167 3/1965 Tugle 16/128 R 3,311,944 41967 D f k 1612 [73] Assignee: McClure Furniture Industries, Inc., u e 8 R Mllton Primary Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin [22] Filed: June 17, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 480,276 [57] ABSTRACT A recessed hinge system for articles of furniture having a pair of substantially cylindrical elongated shafts [30] Forelgn Application Pnonty Data each inserted into holes drilled in adjacent furniture Sept. 21, 1973 Italy 83429/73 panels; the insertion holes are drilled diagonally into the panels relative to the plane of the major face [52] U.S. Cl. 16/137 thereof The Shafts are held in place by means of [Sl] llil. Cl E0511 11/00 transverse set Screws i the corresponding panels and [58] held of Search 16/128 28/ 1 6: 1 6 9 the shafts are coupled together about a pivot axis.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 RECESSED HINGES FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hinge system for articles of furniture, and more particularly to hinges which are recessed into the furniture. Such hinges are totally or almost totally embedded within the corresponding panels except when a particular type of panel does not allow embedding (for instance, glass panels). At present, a great variety of hinges of all types are available. Most of these known hinges suffer from one or more disadvantages, among them: the amount they can be recessed into the furniture article is limited; they are only partially reversible, if at all; they offer only a limited excursion in the open position; they cannot be made invisible; and/or they offer only a limited adjustment capability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, which is designed to overcome the aforementioned problems, consists basically of a hinge, composed of two (preferably cylindrical) metal elements hinged together. The ends of the elements can be inserted into the appropriate furniture panels and fastened with suitable tightening blocks placed transversally of the elongated elements and fixed or incorporated into the panels. I

The hinge system of this invention is also characterized by the panels to which the hinges are secured; these panels are beveled to allow adequate jointing of the adjacent panels without letting the hinges protrude. In fact, only those parts of the hinge shafts which are pivotally connected protrude a small amount.

Another advantage of the hinge of this invention resides in its case of installation: all one needs to do is drill cylindrical embedding holes into the panels that are to be hinged together, insert the cylindrical hinge elements and fasten them in the embedding holes in any convenient manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawing figures wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a first embodiment, including a glass door hinged to a supporting panel of the piece of furniture;

FIG. 2 shows a modified way to mount the hinge of the first embodiment to the glass door;

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment in which the piece of furniture has adjacent fixed and moving chipcore panels with the hinge embedded in both panels and with the hinging system mounted for 90 opening; and

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the hinging system reversed from FIG. 3 and mounted for 180 opening.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The hinge unit of each embodiment is essentially made up of two shafts l, 2 hinged together at a pivot axis by a pivot pin 3. As shown more clearly in FIGS. 3-4, the ends I, 2' of shafts 1, 2 are dovetailed to overlap at the pivot axis. In the first embodiment (FIG. I), a fastening block 6 is glued to the inside of the glass door C; in the modification of FIG. 2, a dowel (7) is appropriately fastened to the glass door in any usual way. For example, the dowel may be pushed through an opening in the glass panel having a diameter smaller .is desirable to avoid cutting a notch or groove in the glass or other type panel.

The adjacent chipcore furniture panel B, has a principal plane 8,, lying on the surface of the panel (and extending in a perpendicular direction to the plane of the drawing figure). The panel B, has a sleeve 4 in which a set screw 5 is located. A cylindrical hole 8 is drilled in the panel and passes through both the panel interior and the sleeve 4 to provide one continuous channel into which shaft 1 is inserted. The shaft is movable within the hole 8 and when positioned as desired is secured against further movement by the set screw 5. The mounting block 6 (or dowel 7) has a hole 9 (9') drilled therethrough and shaft 2 is movably mounted in this hole. When the shaft 2 is located as desired, it is secured against further movement by a set screw 10 mounted in block 6, similar to the arrangement of set screw 5 located in panel B; a similar set screw arrangement is located in dowel 7, although not shown in the drawing.

The arrangements of the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 differ from that of the first embodiment in that, in the latter two embodiments, a second chipcore panel B; (having a principal plane B is used in place of the glass panel C. In this case a second sleeve 4' and set screw 5 are located in panel B and a second cylindrical hole 8' (corresponding to hole 8 in panel B is drilled in the panel B to provide a mounting arrangement similar to the arrangement described above relative to the mounting of shaft 1 in panel 8,.

In all embodiments, the mounting holes, i.e., 8, 9 and 8, 8, are drilled such that their long axes form an angle relative to the principal plane on the face of the corresponding panel.

As shown in FIG. 3, the adjacent edges of panels B and B are beveled in a complementary fashion at an angle of approximately 45 or less in order to allow the panel edges to come neatly together, particularly in the case of a joint (FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting holes can be drilled in panels B and B in the opposite direction to permit the panels to be swung relative to each other.

It is to be understood that various modifications in the structural details of the preferred embodiment described herein may be made within the scope of this invention and without departing from the spirit thereof. It is intended that the scope of this invention shall be limited solely by the hereafter appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A hinge system for furniture articles and the like, comprising: first and second elongated shafts; means pivotally coupling respective end portions of said shafts to each other; means adjustably mounting said shafts to respective relatively movable adjacent panels and at an angle to the principal planes of said respective panels; and means for adjustably securing said shafts to said respective panels.

2. The hinge system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said panels has a cylindrical opening formed therein, said first shaft being located in said opening; and wherein said securing means comprises a set screw located in said at least one panel substantially transversely to the long axis of said first shaft.

3. The hinge system according to claim 2, further comprising a mounting block mounted on the second panel and having an opening formed therein, the central axis of said mounting block opening being at an secured. 

1. A hinge system for furniture articles and the like, comprising: first and second elongated shafts; means pivotally coupling respective end portions of said shafts to each other; means adjustably mounting said shafts to respective relatively movable adjacent panels and at an angle to the principal planes of said respective panels; and means for adjustably securing said shafts to said respective panels.
 2. The hinge system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said panels has a cylindrical opening formed therein, said first shaft being located in said opening; and wherein said securing means comprises a set screw located in said at least one panel substantially transversely to the long axis of said first shaft.
 3. The hinge system according to claim 2, further comprising a mounting block mounted on the second panel and having an opening formed therein, the central axis of said mounting block opening being at an angle to the principal plane of said second panel, said second shaft being movably mounted in said mounting block opening; and a set screw located in said mounting block for securing said second shaft against movement relative to said mounting block.
 4. The hinge system according to claim 2, wherein said panels are beveled complementary to each other at their adjacent end portions to which said shafts are secured. 